Page 57 of A Realm of Fire and Ash

"Um." I scour my mind for an answer. "I can't recall his name. But he's got two cocks?"

"What the actual fuck?" He sits upright, facing me. "Emeric showed you?"

"No!" I laugh nervously. "But he did draw me a map showing me how to get to his house."

Caius scowls. "Burn it."

"I'm not going over there." I chuckle.

"Good." His shoulders relax. He leans back against the wall, pulling me with him. "Finish your story. Sorry, baby bird."

"Far from it, old man." I grin, resting the back of my head against his chest and he kisses the crown of my hair. Despite my reservations, there's something soothing about being in his arms. Maybe I can use him as a buffer from Aggonid. "After we'd gotten back, it was right at midnight—"

"You shouldn't be out after midnight!" He tenses under me. "Have you any idea the types of beasts that roam these woods? The dangers?"

"Time got away from us," I grit out, swallowing hard.

"What happened?" he demands, voice ragged now.

"Well, the first thing we saw was a cinderwing? Then a soulstealer, and something that sounded like a wolf?"

"Shadow wolf," he says, haunted. "You're not safe by yourself, Morte."

I hum. "I am now I've got all this metal." I give the wall a pat.

He growls. "You should come stay with us."

"Who?"

"Aggonid and me."

I let out a bitter laugh. "No." So he can kill me again? Humiliate me? My heart clenches in agony, as I relieve the memory of his cruel rejection.

"You wound me." He entwines our fingers.

"I don't like Aggonid." I shrug.

"He's an acquired taste." He presses a kiss to my temple.

Caius is wrong about one thing: Aggonid is a taste I'm already addicted to. I've had a sip of its sweet poison, and I still feel the searing heat of his lips on mine, and the brush of his tongue against my own.

He's a magic all his own, and for some reason, I'm drawn to it. Which is exactly why I have to stay as far away from him as I can.

Caius’s chest swells with a deep inhale as his hot breath scorches my skin. His iron grip clamps around my throat, not hard enough to choke me, but firm enough to trap me in place. A low, rumbling growl escapes his lips as he speaks in my ear. "Morte, why do I smell your arousal?" His words are laced with a dark desire that sends a wave of pleasure rippling through my body.

I mutter under my breath, "I should've known better than to make a deal with him."

"So, you don't like the god." His grip tightens around my throat and his thumb trails up to my bottom lip. "But love his touch?"

I whimper, "Something like that."

He tilts my head back to face him, and his lips crash down onto mine. His kiss is demanding and possessive, like he wants to reclaim my soul from Aggonid and lock it away in himself. My heart races madly as lust floods my veins and my body craves more of his touch.

Caius pulls away, the warmth lingering on our lips and the longing etched in his gaze. His thumb sweeps across my cheek as his icy eyes search mine. "Be careful, Morte," he murmurs softly. "He may have given you a taste of his power, but there's so much more to him than that. The Aggonid I know is just as likely to capture your heart as he is to enslave your soul. He's already got one, but will you give him the other?"

"No," I blurt out, trying to break the tension. "Never. He's a monster." My words hang heavy in the air, cooling the fire between us.

"I think you'll find that over time," he continues calmly, "there's a reason for everything he does. Even if we don't like it."

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